Dancing at Lughnasa: A Play (Paperback)

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"There is no doubting we are in the thrall of as masterly a dramatist as the theatre possesses." --The Times

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It is 1936 and harvest time in County Donegal. In a house just outside the village of Ballybeg live the five Mundy sisters, barely making ends meet, their ages ranging from twenty-six up to forty. The two male members of the household are brother Jack, a missionary priest, repatriated from Africa by his superiors after twenty-five years, and the seven-year-old child of the youngest sister. In depicting two days in the life of this menage, Brian Friel evokes not simply the interior landscape of a group of human beings trapped in their domestic situation, but the wider landscape, interior and exterior, Christian and pagan, of which they are nonetheless a part.

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Product Details Paperback: 96 pages Publisher: Faber & Faber (December 30, 1998) Language: English ISBN-10: 0571144799 ISBN-13: 978-0571144792 Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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	91% buy the item featured on this page: Dancing at Lughnasa: A Play 4.2 out of 5 stars (8) $9.60
	2% buy Brian Friel: Plays 2: Dancing at Lughnasa, Fathers and Sons, Making History, Wonderful Tennessee and Molly Sweeney (Contemporary Classics (Faber & Faber)) (v. 2) 5.0 out of 5 stars (2) $15.00
	2% buy Translations: A Play (Faber Paperbacks) 4.1 out of 5 stars (15) $8.57
	1% buy The Curious Savage. 5.0 out of 5 stars (9) $7.50

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews 5 star:  (3) 4 star:  (4) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 16 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A simple review, December 19, 1998 By A Customer This play is based in the small town of Ballybeg. A small town where the people have small, closed off minds. Life is hard back then, as the adult Michael comments the industrial revolution only comes to Ballybeg at the end of the play, and this is te 30's and Ireland is going through an economic depression.. This is the story of the 5 Mundy sisters, Kate, Agnes, Maggie, Christina and Rose. All with different, totally unique personalities. Also in the family are Father Jack, who has returned from African missionaries who has become "sick" and nativeised and the illegitimate son os Christina. The father is Gerry, an irresponsible, charming man from Wales. The play follows their lives through the month of August (Lughnasa = the irish word for August, coming from "Lugh" the pagan god of the old irish). I thought this was a very good book, nothing seems to happen, yet everything changes irrevocably. It is a page turner, I was warped into the world of the Mundys, so different to my own. Emotions, feelings and fears are woven into this masterpiece of Irish literature.The best part of the play for me, was the ending. Absolutely brilliant. 7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars "Dancing...the very heart of life and all its hopes.", September 29, 2004 By  Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    Set in Donegal in 1936, during Ireland's change from an agrarian to a more industrial economy, Brian Friel's haunting ensemble drama of five sisters and their priest brother reveals the economic, social, and religious pressures in the rural community of Ballybeg on the eve of the harvest festival of Lughnasa. Forty-ish Kate, who sees herself "in charge," is the only real wage earner in the family. Rigid, severe, and completely lacking in humor, she believes pagan celebrations, such as Lughnasa, which provide fun and enjoyment in the countryside, are "uncivilized." Her brother Jack, the priest, however, on furlough from his missionary work in Uganda, is now virtually a pagan himself. His work has shown him the need of the poor for happiness, dancing, and community celebration, even if it is not church-sanctioned. The other Mundy sisters help illustrate the ironic chasm between Kate's attitudes and those of Fr. Jack. Maggie, the fun-loving, free-spirited, and most humorous of the sisters, constantly bursts into song and dance and longs to go to the town dance. Christina feels no shame whatever about her love-child and thoroughly enjoys the summer visit of his father, Gerry Evans, with whom she dances spontaneously. Aggie and Rose, who earn small wages knitting gloves, work tirelessly as the family's sad, "unpaid servants," constantly chafing against Kate's imposition of her own values on them. When the local priest fails to rehire Kate because of Fr. Jack's apparent paganism, the family is devastated, but it is at that moment that they recognize the need to celebrate life itself. The narrator is Michael, Christina's love-child, now in his fifties, who sets the scene and comments on the action throughout. Though Michael himself participates in the action as a child, the child is invisible to the audience. The characters speak to him as if he were real, and the adult Michael responds, but to the actors on stage, it is the narrator who is invisible. The message of the play is far stronger here than that of its film version, starring Meryl Streep. In the play Kate is more hostile, and the fates of Aggie and Rose are revealed early, not withheld till the end. Fr. Jack's paganism is not regarded as a mental aberration in the play, and the "clan of the round collar" is opened to scrutiny. The play, though dark, is ultimately a joyful celebration of life itself, a life not bound by organized religion. Mary Whipple 8 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful play of Irish culture and family dynamics, November 6, 1998 By A Customer I was recently in Ireland and heard about Friel, an Irish native, and his powerful work. When I returned, I ordered Dancing at Lughnasa and didn't put it down until the last scene was complete. This is a riveting story of the family dynamic among five sisters and the men in their lives. Beautifully written I could hear each voice, each accent!, could see the sisters as they knitted in the kitchen and danced in the garden. One of the most interesting techniques Friel uses is the non-existant son of one of the sisters. His words are mouthed by the narrator and I'd be interested to know how it fleshes out on stage, but it is wonderfully done here. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in theatre, Irish culture, or good reads.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars verry good It was in verry good shape, and the shipping time was OK. Published on September 3, 2005 by Michaela Lind 3.0 out of 5 stars interesting This is the story of the summer of 1936 and a family of a poor irish family making there way through it. Read more Published on November 17, 2003 by amy 4.0 out of 5 stars A Hidden Treasure A few years ago, my drama instructor suggested that this play should be performed. No one had ever heard of it before, but after listening to a brief summary, everyone was... Read more Published on September 11, 2003 by Sarah 4.0 out of 5 stars Short and Sweet I had to read this for a theatre class, and it turns out that I loved it. It's a glimpse into a life we wouldn't normally know, and Brian Freil gives us the opportunity to embrace... Read more Published on December 20, 2002 by Sarah Garofalo 5.0 out of 5 stars A great play What follows is an adapted version of the liner notes I wrote in the production program of Dancing At Lughnasa which I recently directed. Read more Published on May 21, 2002 by J. Remington Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber (December 30, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571144799
• ISBN-13: 978-0571144792
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A simple review, December 19, 1998

By A Customer

This play is based in the small town of Ballybeg. A small town where the people have small, closed off minds. Life is hard back then, as the adult Michael comments the industrial revolution only comes to Ballybeg at the end of the play, and this is te 30's and Ireland is going through an economic depression.. This is the story of the 5 Mundy sisters, Kate, Agnes, Maggie, Christina and Rose. All with different, totally unique personalities. Also in the family are Father Jack, who has returned from African missionaries who has become "sick" and nativeised and the illegitimate son os Christina. The father is Gerry, an irresponsible, charming man from Wales. The play follows their lives through the month of August (Lughnasa = the irish word for August, coming from "Lugh" the pagan god of the old irish). I thought this was a very good book, nothing seems to happen, yet everything changes irrevocably. It is a page turner, I was warped into the world of the Mundys, so different to my own. Emotions, feelings and fears are woven into this masterpiece of Irish literature.The best part of the play for me, was the ending. Absolutely brilliant.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Dancing...the very heart of life and all its hopes.", September 29, 2004

By	Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Set in Donegal in 1936, during Ireland's change from an agrarian to a more industrial economy, Brian Friel's haunting ensemble drama of five sisters and their priest brother reveals the economic, social, and religious pressures in the rural community of Ballybeg on the eve of the harvest festival of Lughnasa. Forty-ish Kate, who sees herself "in charge," is the only real wage earner in the family. Rigid, severe, and completely lacking in humor, she believes pagan celebrations, such as Lughnasa, which provide fun and enjoyment in the countryside, are "uncivilized." Her brother Jack, the priest, however, on furlough from his missionary work in Uganda, is now virtually a pagan himself. His work has shown him the need of the poor for happiness, dancing, and community celebration, even if it is not church-sanctioned.

The other Mundy sisters help illustrate the ironic chasm between Kate's attitudes and those of Fr. Jack. Maggie, the fun-loving, free-spirited, and most humorous of the sisters, constantly bursts into song and dance and longs to go to the town dance. Christina feels no shame whatever about her love-child and thoroughly enjoys the summer visit of his father, Gerry Evans, with whom she dances spontaneously. Aggie and Rose, who earn small wages knitting gloves, work tirelessly as the family's sad, "unpaid servants," constantly chafing against Kate's imposition of her own values on them. When the local priest fails to rehire Kate because of Fr. Jack's apparent paganism, the family is devastated, but it is at that moment that they recognize the need to celebrate life itself.

The narrator is Michael, Christina's love-child, now in his fifties, who sets the scene and comments on the action throughout. Though Michael himself participates in the action as a child, the child is invisible to the audience. The characters speak to him as if he were real, and the adult Michael responds, but to the actors on stage, it is the narrator who is invisible. The message of the play is far stronger here than that of its film version, starring Meryl Streep. In the play Kate is more hostile, and the fates of Aggie and Rose are revealed early, not withheld till the end. Fr. Jack's paganism is not regarded as a mental aberration in the play, and the "clan of the round collar" is opened to scrutiny. The play, though dark, is ultimately a joyful celebration of life itself, a life not bound by organized religion. Mary Whipple

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful play of Irish culture and family dynamics, November 6, 1998

By A Customer

I was recently in Ireland and heard about Friel, an Irish native, and his powerful work. When I returned, I ordered Dancing at Lughnasa and didn't put it down until the last scene was complete. This is a riveting story of the family dynamic among five sisters and the men in their lives. Beautifully written I could hear each voice, each accent!, could see the sisters as they knitted in the kitchen and danced in the garden. One of the most interesting techniques Friel uses is the non-existant son of one of the sisters. His words are mouthed by the narrator and I'd be interested to know how it fleshes out on stage, but it is wonderfully done here. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in theatre, Irish culture, or good reads.